The Light is upon you.

Like the star on the tree in the photo above. The purest energy blazes as the brightest light among so much light. Available for you. Available for all. Sometimes an image serves as decoration. Other times, it brings an invitation.   

Your capacity to engage the Light is enhanced during the holy days, the solstice, and appearance of bright heavenly planets. 

Amidst the preparation for time spent alone or with family and friends, you may take a few moments to call upon this Holy Light with this simple meditation. 

Settle into stillness as you breathe with eyes open, tuning into this image. 

Breathing deeply, you close your eyes and hold the image of this bright star above your own head. Let it pulse there while you notice your body and enjoy the stillness.  Relaxing more with every exhale and joining your energy with the light of Pachamama (Mother Earth).

A blanket of snow covers my town, adding a loveliness to the day.

And a stillness that invites me to sit and look out the window. To gaze upon the brilliant white lawn scattered with prints of the deer enjoying their leisurely morning commute. Stopping to snack on my bush, as if I planted the garden for their pleasure.

The trees shake with the wind, breaking free from the snow.

I see how this dance not only protects the trees, but prepares for the wrapped lights to brighten the night when it arrives. My ears perk at the sound of the birds, pulling my eyes to the feeder.

There is a calmness to the hustle and bustle with a steady stream of feathered visitors.

As if an invisible air traffic controller guides the pattern. Alighting on the tree top and moving down the branches until the way is clear. There’s room for 5 birds at a time in this system. Rotating tiny flying machines, some wrapped in red, eat their fill and lift off to destinations unknown. Even the ground crew is busy at work. Sometimes a chipmunk, other times my dog.

Taking turns and wasting nothing.

The stillness awakens a lightness of being as my breath settles me within my body. It’s a pleasure to sit still and look. This mostly quiet world tells me stories of partnership and beauty. Cooperation and kindness. Survival and creativity.

An entire library in my backyard.

A breeze gusts the snow in a swirling pattern. Upward and outward. Light as a snowflake. Heavy as a blanketed lawn. Gazing at this natural landscape, feeling the warmth and beauty within my home, I reflect on this pandemic holiday season. The sweetness and grief. The gain and the loss. The lightness and the heaviness. The disappointment and the celebration.

Holiday music seems strange this year.

As if the holly jolly bustle is a distant memory. In the absence of large family gatherings, shopping sprees, and holiday parties, the world is quieter. Perhaps this is why it took me by surprise when I heard the holiday music in the hair salon. Christmas was coming.

I heard this musical invitation to meaningfully prepare for this holiday.

The world is different so it makes sense that this holiday will be different. I’m using this awareness as a springboard into meaningful action. Preparing for the dark, colder winter, I’m interested in creating light, warmth, and comfort in my home. To bring cheer into my environment in a way that looks and feels beautiful.

Decorating my home for the holidays became an act of love rather than a routine change in decor.

The outdoor lights were different this year as new tiny bushes replaced the old. Inviting a discussion about how to create beauty and pleasure outdoors. To bring light to the night in a conscious way. And celebrate the loveliness of a simpler presentation.

Our family gift giving shifted this year to a pollyanna as the “kids” had grown up.

Another change. Reflecting the transformations our world is going through. Thanksgiving heralded the tiny family gatherings, connected briefly by ZOOM. I noticed the light, warmth, and enjoyment represented by each square on my computer.

I sensed plans for Christmas following the same path.

Sprinkled with the appreciation of togetherness while we are separate. The comfort of sharing time, love, and pleasure with those in the room. Even when alone. Zooming cheer to those further away.

I sought the beauty beneath the expected commercial promotion of the Christmas holiday.

I saw how decorations, parties, and gifts honored the connections between friends and family. Offering lovely traditions and meaningful time spent together. Increasing the warmth within and between us. With the simplification of holiday activity, the presence of love and gratitude emerges powerfully through conscious sharing and caring.

The natural brilliance emerging from heartfelt connection outshines the artificial lights of the season.

Inviting us to go deeper within to commune with the Light that is alive in our hearts. Breathing with the energy of Love and the consciousness of the Christed One which flows to, through, and from us. This Light which honors and welcomes all traditions with all of their trimmings.

Beauty, warmth, comfort await us when dropping into the embrace of this Light.

Reminding us to view the twinkling lights, cheery music, and rituals of gathering and giving as an outward expression of this love. To welcome the quiet simplicity of my moments and intentionally refrain from the busyness of past holidays.